Sunday, May 30, 1999 Published at 00:01 GMT 01:01 UKWorld: South AsiaIndia reports Kashmir gainsIndian troops: Reportedly within 50m of "infiltrator" positionsIndia says it has made significant gains in its continuing air, artillery and ground operations against what it calls infiltrators in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Indian troops are on the verge of hand-to-hand fighting in some areas, according to an Indian military spokesman.

Conflict continues despite diplomatic moves by Pakistan, which called on the United Nations to mediate the dispute.

BBC correspondent in Kashmir, Mike Wooldridge, says the Indian military reported that in the small town of Drass, infiltrators were reportedly dug-in barely 50 metres from Indian troops in some places.

However, Pakistani military officials said the latest Indian attacks seem to have been less intense than in previous days.

Diplomatic moves

Following Pakistan's diplomatic moves, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said he was willing to talk, but that there would be no let up in the military campaign to eject alleged infiltrators from Indian territory.

However, Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes said on Saturday: "We do not believe it will escalate into a war."

Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, has written to the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, asking him to send a special envoy to the region and enlarge the UN observer mission there.

Mr Fernandes responded to this by saying that India had assurances from the UK, the US, Russia and France - all permanent members of the UN Security Council - that the council would not discuss the fighting.

Congress concerns

Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi expressed concern over the situation in Kashmir, saying India's security, sovereignty and territorial integrity should be protected "at any cost".

But Indian television said that Mrs Gandhi had stressed that every effort should be made to find a solution through "diplomatic intiatives".

India's Major General Singh said around 300 "infiltrators" had been killed and nearly 700 wounded - more than half of the original number who had taken positions in Indian territory.

He said there was now evidence of Pakistan regular army involvement in the intrusion - something Pakistan has denied.

Plane crash admitted

India, for its part, has admitted that one of its downed war planes had strayed into Pakistani airspace before it crashed. The body of one its pilots has been returned by Pakistan.